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Editing after DSS stacking


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Goodmorning everyone!

 

Had a really late night yesterday after buying a Canon EOS 2000D with 18-200 Tamaran f3.5-F6 lens. And a simple tripod.
Decided on this camera because of my budget and the lens because the shop owner had it for 129 euro second hand. Gave it a test spin around the area and on the dogs, very happy so far!

Started reading up on astrophotography (no tracking / no scope just yet. To expensive for now!) but did get a Powerseeker 60.
Not for photo's I know now ;). But did see Jupiter with its moons which was SUPER tiny, but VERY exciting.

To the point now. Yesterday had a session shooting Orion.
When editing after stacking in DSS the only thing that seems to be making a difference is playing with the RGB channels / histogram? How do you guys make everything pop after stacking? 
Playing with RGB really makes the stars come out of the dark image, but feels like I am missing something? 
Also the orange glow as I understand it is light polution right?
I had 20 dark frames, 100 light frames, 0 flats (not sure how to yet)
Editing is done in Olympus Workspace

 

(First Image, Orion, is zoomed in 100x2s 1600 ISO F5.0)

(2nd image, Pleiades, not zoomed 10x25s 1600 ISO F5.0)

 

Thanks for any comments and all the criticism ;)

.pleiades_Edit.workspace.thumb.jpg.2bb4f9a94fabdb1ed6375e23bc9589d3.jpg

.Orion_edit.workspace.thumb.jpg.c333466ad74fac7c2780fcf7f32d1b38.jpg

 

 

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DSS is a fairly good software for stacking but for nothing else. Another good one is SiriL, slightly more difficult to use but with lots of tutorials available.

Don't worry if you don't see a clear picture after stacking. The information is there. Hidden.

After stacking you will need an image editing software such as Photoshop, Gimp... (the latter is free) to stretch the histogram and make that information visible.

In order to preserve all data gathered during your session, the output file from DSS should be a FIT or TIFF file of at least 16 bits. There begins the dark art of image processing. 

There are tons of tutorials in YouTube about image stacking and processing. Dive in and have fun trying to squeeze out the most from your images.

And the most important: enjoy climbing the steep learning curve!

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Be aware of clipping in post-prosessing. Learn what it is, what it does, how to recognize it and avoid it. Many opinions on this, a lot of youtubers are sloppy. THOU SHALL NOT HAVE CLIPPING AT ALL! Stick to the Crop, Levels and Curves tool, with the aid of the histogram, in that order, to the end. If you need to adjust colors or remove noise, that's the last step.

I use Gimp, mostly because I'm a Linux guy, but I've watched many tutorials on Photoshop. In my humble opinion, Gimp seems more mature and grown-up, with the menus and tools more logically ordered. It does what Photoshop does, and more. With the Gimp G'Mic plugin-suite installed alongside I can't think of any rival.

Take notice of the "Copy Layer"-trick! You will see some using this. A quick and handy way of Undo/Redo - new to me, now I use it all the time!

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It is possible to post process in DSS, but quite difficult to achieve worthwhile results.

Dedicated post processing software ranges from free (the already mentioned Gimp is one example) through the moderately priced, StarTools, Affinity Photo,  to the more expensive Pixinsight, Astro Pixel Processor or Astro Art, for example.  You can also use non-astro software like Photoshop (if you don't mind the subscription model).  Many of the paid for varieties have a free trial period, some have an unlimited trial but won't allow saving.  

If you look through previous Stargazine episodes, some of the already mentioned programs have episodes dedicated to their use.  Might be worth a look to see if any appeal?

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Thanks, thanks, guys. I am very happy with the learning curve, seems like a GREAT challenge! Thanks for the tips on editing. I love Gimp, use it to make personal designs alot. 

 

I will dive into the world of youtube even deepen then before 😁

 

And Yes! Glad you mentioned Stargazine, heard it somewhere before but forgot about it, i'll check it out. Along with some different sorftware see what fits me best! 

Edited by RemcoDutch
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Yeah Siril is great because along with its great stacking capabilities (bit of a learning curve though) it has autostretch and colour calibration tools available, simple as clicking a few buttons.

The stretch can be a bit rough and tumble, but it is a great tool to get you started and to see what data is in the image.

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I only started AP a couple of months ago, also with a Canon DSLR and tripod - although have recently purchased a telescope. I also use DSS, but only use it for stacking the image, I do not perform any adjustments to the image in DSS. I use Photoshop (PS) for that. 

Quote

How do you guys make everything pop after stacking? 

1. I open the Autosave.tif file produced by DSS in PS.

2. Next I change the image from 32 bit to 16 bit. Image > Mode > 16 bit. An HDR Toning window will appear, select Exposure and Gamma and click OK.

image.thumb.png.8abf506e1a2772f536eacedd583bf237.png

3. I then adjust the levels. CTRL + L will display the Levels window. I adjust each channel (Red, then Green, and finally Blue) independently removing any blank space before and after the data. Just need to slide the leftmost marker to the right so it sits just before the data spike.

This is before adjustment ...

image.png.cc154061e1c420a5760bdeab78aa3bc4.png

This is after adjustment ... notice the new locations of the left and right markers.

image.png.5baa478c3276231a7ce773976e3d23e4.png

4. Once each channel has been corrected, I click OK and then add a curve layer. I stretch the data making a bow like curve.

image.thumb.png.b3176abd70a6fc863a0d88c3a8cf3791.png

5. Next, I create a new layer from all visible layers, CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + E is the shortcut.

6. I then repeat steps 3 - 5 to 'pop' the image until I am satisfied with the result.

You can see in Step 2 the original image produced by DSS didn't look great, but the data is there. Using the above process I produced the image below of the Rosette Nebula.

2037567221_NGC-2244_120s_1600iso_8c_Rosette_20211201-23h36m17s593ms.thumb.jpg.40a3a840eb7bf3ba1a0eeeb69270ab72.jpg

 

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There are two basic processes in astrophotography:

 

'Stacking' to improve signal to noise in the linear image (still looks dark, a few stars, etc)

'Stretching' to bring out the detail hidden in the 'stacked' image

 

Stretching is a dark art. Siril is very good for a beginner and I recommend it, as it will both stack and stretch fairly quickly so you can get an idea what is lurking in the shadows. 

There's a learning curve with Siril but there are a couple of recent youtube guides that are good tutorials. You need a recent one as the interface has changed in later versions 

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Yesss, this is amazing. Got my hand on a cheap PS C6 copy ! 

My next challenge is going to be achieving  focus 😁. And actually using calibration frames!

Stretching REALLY brings out the good... and bad! Wind is blowing hard, so that also seems to be a factor on my light €50 Monfrotto tripod. 

Hoping that the winds will die down soon! 

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39 minutes ago, slaine said:

I saw this in the Orion comp @900SL ... it is a stunning image, well done 👏

Thanks Slaine. Its taken a year or so but I think I've got the workflow sorted out now for set up, focusing, exposure, tracking etc. Getting some consistency now (apart from when I leave the lens cap on for 90 minutes...) 

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On 09/12/2021 at 07:28, 900SL said:

I started off like you around 18 months ago @RemcoDutch

Now Orion looks like this:   https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/385555-sgl-2021-challenge-8-all-about-orion/?do=findComment&comment=4165162

Tracker, dark skies, D5600 and telescope. Budget on around 1000 to 1500 euro ;) 

Or later in that thread with a 135mm lens

 

Insane!! I bought a supercheap Celestron for observation and falling in love with the stars and planets. Only a matter of time before I upgrade aswell 😄

 

Very stunning image, hope I can achieve this in 18 months from now!! ❤️

Edited by RemcoDutch
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On 09/12/2021 at 07:28, 900SL said:

I started off like you around 18 months ago @RemcoDutch

Now Orion looks like this:   https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/385555-sgl-2021-challenge-8-all-about-orion/?do=findComment&comment=4165162

Tracker, dark skies, D5600 and telescope. Budget on around 1000 to 1500 euro ;) 

Or later in that thread with a 135mm lens

 

Looks like tracking will take me to the next level after getting used to editing :)

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you can get a red dot finder that mounts in the camera flash hotshoe, helps with where the camera is pointing. get a remote release for the shutter or see if DSLR Controller an Android app will work with your canon as it helps hugely with focusing too, though you need an android device

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1 hour ago, happy-kat said:

you can get a red dot finder that mounts in the camera flash hotshoe, helps with where the camera is pointing. get a remote release for the shutter or see if DSLR Controller an Android app will work with your canon as it helps hugely with focusing too, though you need an android device

Yes, I found that the canon app helps with remote shutter release. But going to see for a dedicated one. The laser I hadnt considered yet! Sounds like a thing people invest in at some point anyway. So this sounds like a smaller step I could take financially sooner then anything else! 

Still having trouble focusing. Even though it seems ok. But babysteps 😅. Seems like my lens has some issues aswell (on forums they seem to indicate that tele lenses distort on the edges?). 

All in all, keep learning every session 😄, for years to come probably! 

 

Edited by RemcoDutch
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